Ron Paul: Stock Market Could Crater 50% – TheStreet.com

Former Republican Congressman Ron Paul said he was “surprised,’ when the majority of his devout gold followers, chose bitcoin over the yellow metal as their investment choice.

Earlier this week, Paul, the ambassador for the firm Gold Co took to Twitter to ask his followers how they would invest a $10,000 gift – but he offered this catch:

“You must keep the gift in the form that you choose, and you can’t touch it for 10 years,” Paul said in a tweet Tuesday. The libertarian’s followers were provided with four options: U.S. dollars, gold, U.S. ten-year Treasury bonds and bitcoin.

In an interview Thursday, Paul said he was not surprised however, that only 2% would store away Federal Reserve notes. Paul, a well-known critic of the Federal Reserve, and an advocate of holding gold, had previously campaigned to audit the central bank and return to a gold standard.

“It was information for me to tell me what my viewers are thinking…[And I] was surprised that many people would stash away [in bitcoin],” Paul said.

After trading above $16,100 midday Thursday, bitcoin pared gains slightly, still higher 16.18% for the day to $15,971.05 Thursday afternoon.